During a final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors led by Cho Eun-suk asked the court to sentence Yoon to 30 years in jail over allegations that he ordered the dispatch of drones to Pyongyang in October 2024 several times, about two months before his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.
They also sought a 25-year prison sentence for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun over the same allegation.
Prosecutors argued that Yoon and Kim conspired to stir up military tensions with North Korea by sending drones along the border, giving them a reason to declare martial law.
"Those responsible for the lives and safety of the people instead sought to provoke a warlike crisis on the Korean Peninsula to justify martial law," prosecutors said, calling it a crime against the state and its people that seriously undermined national security.
The court is expected to deliver its ruling sometime next month.
Yoon, who was ousted from the presidency on April 4 last year after the Constitutional Court of Korea unanimously upheld his impeachment, was sentenced to life imprisonment last February on his main charges of insurrection and abuse of power but has also faced a string of separate trials related to the debacle.
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